Daniel Mengden to start Sunday as Mike Fiers gets extra day off after no-hitter

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PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 04: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hits an RBI single to right field in the first inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on May 4, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)

OAKLAND — The A’s have struggled to score of late, averaging 2.8 runs over their previous five games, and they did not get good news entering their weekend series against Cleveland.

Khris Davis continues to deal with a left-hip contusion that sidelined him for the series finale against Cincinnati on Thursday. He was out of the lineup Friday, but Oakland was hesitant to put the slugger on the injured list.

“It’s not something we want to do,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Even if he came back on the eighth day, it’s something we’re going to hold out. He’s so important to the team that you want to try to potentially give him every day you can.

“If you put him on the DL for 10 days and the seventh day he is ready to play, then we’re missing three days. So we’ll try to be patient with him.”

Melvin had hoped Davis, who has 10 home runs and 26 RBIs this season, would be ready to play Friday. But the lineup instead had Kendrys Morales at designated hitter.

“I was just trying to be optimistic,” Melvin said. “Sometimes these things take a few days. He didn’t really do anything yesterday. We’re trying to get him as healthy as he can, and today is not that day. He is literally day-to-day at this point.”

Davis was removed from the game Sunday in Pittsburgh because of the injury. He did not play Tuesday and went 0 for 1 with a walk Wednesday.

“You saw the swings in the game,” Melvin said. “They just weren’t great and we didn’t want to push him.”

Sunday’s starter

Daniel Mengden, who is 3-2 with a 2.77 ERA in seven appearances (six starts) with Triple-A Las Vegas, will be called up to start for the A’s on Sunday, Melvin said.

The team is giving Mike Fiers an extra day to rest after he pitched a no-hitter Tuesday.

“He’s pitched really well,” Melvin said of Mengden. “We knew he’d be here at some point in time. We try to keep as many guys in the fold to begin with. You know you’re going to need some depth as the season goes along. But there comes a point when a guy is pitching really well and you need to get him here. I think that’s the case for him right now.”

Olson finds his groove

Matt Olson entered the series against Cleveland with three singles and a double in 13 at-bats since returning from a hand injury that sidelined him since the team’s opening series in Tokyo.

“It looks like he’s seeing the ball pretty well,” Melvin said. “He’s a guy that’s a pretty calm thinker. He doesn’t get too far into worry world. He’s pretty confident at what he does. It’s not surprising. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to go out there and get a couple of hits every game. He seems to be in a pretty good place right now.”

510 Day

The A’s, who consider themselves Rooted in Oakland, as the marketing slogan goes, celebrated 510 day Friday as a tribute to the area code long associated with the East Bay.

“I didn’t know a whole lot about it until just recently,” Melvin said. “But I think any time you celebrate the area that we’re in, there are so many great players that have come from 510. We’re rooted in Oakland. We’re trying to stay here. We’re doing everything that we possibly can to celebrate that area code.”

Quotable

Melvin was asked what he likes about Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor, “I don’t like anything about him on our side. The guy is one of the premier players in the game. Hits for power. Hits for average. Plays great defense. He runs. He’s one of the elite players.”